Thursday, February 20, 2014

I'm Amazed

As I begin to write this blog post, the counter in the right hand column of the blog shows it has been viewed 100,061 since the counter was installed. I'm not sure when that was. Somehow, in the back of my mind, I believe it was in September and maybe in 2009. I know I began blogging in May 2006.

But over 100,000 views! I can't imagine that. My college degree was in journalism and I have been writing for school papers since junior high, for church newsletters and newspapers since the mid-1970s, and for a few general circulation newspapers in the 1960s. But I am amazed and humbled that people have come to read the blog posts more than 100,000 times. I started the blog so family and friends would know what we were doing as we traveled in our RV. But that is only a few people. The blog is listed on HitchItch.com, so most of the RVers who read it found me from there.

If you look at the other statistical information gadgets in the right column, on the ClustrMaps visitor map you will learn that 41,000+ views have come from people in the United States since that was installed in December 2010. The other 4,000+ views since then came from other countries. The Flag Counter was installed in April 2011. I don't really understand how that one works. It shows 167 flags collected from 104 countries. What countries have more than one flag?

When I look at the ClustrMaps visitor map, I see that the blog was viewed 36 times in the 24 hours ending early this morning. Unless I see that those folks are in Colorado or Arizona, I have no idea who they are. Someone in Mountain View, California, is a frequent reader. But I don't think I know them. More amazing are the foreign countries listed with that map or by the flag counter: 21 views from China, 9 from Romania and 5 from the Ukraine. The newest country to visit, according to Flag Counter, was El Salvador on Feb. 6. Someone from Croatia and someone from Botswana have read the blog.

Who are you? How do you find the blog? And who is reading this post? Why do you read my blog? What are you most interested in? I would love to hear from you. Please comment and help me to understand how and why the blog has been viewed more than 100,000 times.

12 comments:

Hi! I am Clara from Texas. I have been reading your blog for awhile now. I can't remember how I came across it. I read several rv blogs because my husband and I have often talked about rv'ing full time with our kids. It's been a pleasure reading about your travels and adventures! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading. We love the full-time RV life, though we didn't begin until after our children were grown and gone. Have you found blogs by RVing families with children? We know there are quite a few who travel that way and home school.

I don't remember how I found your blog, was first intrigued because we had similar rigs, then because of the time you spent in CO a place we love. I stayed because I enjoy reading about your travels since you go to places we also enjoy. Thanks for sharing.

I, too, am always amazed by the number of people reading our blog. Since very few of them ever comment, unless you look at the feed you have no idea. The majority of our readers have come from Hitch Itch, so that my be how they found yours, too.I think I found your blog a few years back when we were looking at spending a summer in Colorado. And the rest is history...

Greetings from Valencia, CA! I don't remember how I found your blog but my husband and I hope to fulltime RV in about 2 years. I started reading a couple of different RV blogs to see where people had gone on their travels and what they enjoyed or obstacles they encountered. Your blog is the one I read most frequently and very much enjoy. Thanks for sharing and continued blessings to you and your husband.

Yes, RV's (caravan's) are much smaller in the UK, although there are few US style ones about, but generally our roads are much smaller and anything to big is difficult to drive and park. Have fun our your travels :).

John and Carol, My husband Rick and I are avid vacation RVers from Virginia Beach. Starting in tents 25 years ago, we've evolved thru the typical camping/RV process. Rick is retiring in two years after 32yrs in the Navy and we are preparing for our life on the full-time road. We found you via hitchitch. We were first drawn to you because we are opting for 5th wheel vice MH and it was hard to find 5th wheel full timer with a good blog. We read your blog because it is well-written, has nice pics, and lets us see the ups and downs of the life. We are heading to Indiana for the DRV factory tour as we are very interested in the Suites. We'll continue to follow you so please stay safe!

2018 Travels

About Me

"Where are we going? We don't know. When will we get there? We're not certain. All we know is we are on our way." With thanks to the theme song from "Paint Your Wagon" (slightly modified).
We no longer have a 5th wheel--we traded it in for an Airstream travel trailer--but we still wander when we are not in our Arizona winter home.
We are retired (since the year we turned 60). We were full-time RVers 2009-2013. Our Colorado home is still rented to others. This adventure is taking us all over North America and helping us to appreciate and understand how people live and what a wonderful world God has created. We tried to give back by volunteering in state and national parks and fish and wildlife facilities for 9 years. We also enjoy pursuing our hobbies of walking, weight training, photography, genealogy, carving, wood turning and reading. Follow along as we enjoy this wonderful world.